


The Dark Depths

by Fireteam_Russian_Roulette



Series: Non-Specific Stories (Destiny) [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Hive (Destiny) - Freeform, Other, The Leviathan destiny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:47:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28670982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireteam_Russian_Roulette/pseuds/Fireteam_Russian_Roulette
Summary: An experiment for Emperor Calus creates something monsterous
Series: Non-Specific Stories (Destiny) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101269





	The Dark Depths

The leviathan in the beginning was a mystery, it had created fear as the planet size ship with a gaping mouth appeared in the system, looming over nessus. They had sent a raid team made of the usual culprits to defeat the threat only to discover that a cabal leader named emperor calus ruled over the floating fortress with his own legion of cabal seperate to the red empire. Whether calus was there or not and where he was located was a mystery as they discovered that the calus they had defeated was merely a stand in, a large mechanical being with the likeness or presumed likeness of the emperor.

He came to be instead of a feared enemy, one of interest, and while he remained looming over nessus, his planet eating ship seemed to have halted as calus seemingly had decided he enjoyed the guardians, finding them amusing, impressive even in the feats that they could achieve.

As time passed, he was almost forgotten in most people’s eyes but calus favourite guardians were gifted over time with treasures and rewards of great power, even helping feed the guardians boredom and entertainment to further us own and over time, calus became curious.

It was after many years of lingering in the system that he called one of his favourite guardians to the leviathan and while he would never show his true form, the guardian boa met him in the purple crustal drowned throne room gilded with gold and luxury. The large familiar mechanical machine lounged on his golden throne holding a familiar goblet, one of hundreds if not thousands of replicas. It was then that a deal was made, if boa could find calus ghosts willing to take part in an experiment, he would reward her with treasures for each new subject she could find.

With boss help, calus birthed a small army of guardians under his power made from ghosts who chose to throw away the idea of their special guardian, trading it for a life of treasure and spoils as calus offered them his protection. While calus started with simply cabal, he moved onto the other races that he had collected in his grand ship before sending out parties of his army to search the system for more that would join his curious army.

The cabal were not so different to guardians once they were revived, cabal were created with no need for breeding practices so guardians were made of a combination of light infused cabal soldiers before being revived as a true guardian, accidents tended to happen with vex and some ghosts were lost, others learnt to control and make certain vex into a form of guardian. The darkest of all these experiments as expected were the hive that calus considered pets almost. He had appointed one brood mother to be the leader of his hive known as the leviathans brood and he approached the brood queen to find a way to make what could be considered a guardian from the darkest of his pets.

This was the most unfortunate way for ghosts to go, and while they were never forced, some chose to give their light with the promise that their shell would be held in high regard. Often these ghosts were those who had lost their guardians and were unable to revive them, becoming guardian less once more with no hope of ever getting another. They believed that this was a better cause to give too since they could no longer serve humanity and so they were sacrificed.

The brood queen was surprising gentle as she took these ghosts in clawed chitin hands and fed their light light to worms in the hope they could combine their dark nature with the light. It took a few attempts before the first of these stronger worms were created and moulded to the queen’s desires. The next thing was to create the perfect soldier to match and so as the queen continued to create and perfect her worms, she begun to infuse young krill with the familiar dark that twisted them into hive combined with the tainted light that would help feed and support the worms.

There was much trial and error as sometimes the light would kill them, sometimes the dark would consume them making horrible monstrosities to add to calus’s menagerie but finally she managed to make a lone thrall that could survive both in the light and darkness that had so far defeated all before her.

The queen became protective of her first-born child, born from experimentation and corruption. as the day that the young thrall would finally surface from its dark tainted egg came, light pulsed through it as it occasionally as it jolted with movement from the young thrall inside its sticky protection. The queen had ordered all to leave her presence, leaving her alone in a room encrusted with filth and hoards of protected worms that craved light.

The queen had settled onto the ground beside the glowing egg, crooning gentle whispers as she caressed the surface, almost as a mother would over her new born child but more disturbing as she whispered dark truths, promising that she would be her greatest creation. She could tell when it was time, she could hear the whispers from the young thrall as was started to reach to the surface of the jelly like egg. The queen began to hover in hungry anticipation, waiting to see her creation and as fingertips started to stretch the embryo, the surface was finally pierced by soft fingertips pulling against the force holding it trapped.

A chain reaction followed as the embryo split instantly and jelly popped with an explosion of half liquid wave that popped up around a tired looking thrall. It was not a normal thrall, not nearly as animalistic as normal thrall but it had a similar body shape only more human, a mix of krill and the corruption of hive. A collection of thick honey like jelly stuck to the newborns body as it tried to stand, slipping in the mess of its own birth. It was blind, like all young hive and krill, their future was to be cruelty and pain but not this one as the queen reached down to lift the young thrall in her hands with gentle whispers. The thrall was scared at first, fear was its nature but hearing the whispers, it instead reached out for the energy it knew it craved with hungry cries in the form of horrific gargles.

The queen cradled the filthy child with no care for the mess before offering her fingers to the child and while it was barely big enough to eat more than a finger, it clutched her hand tightly and started nibbling hungrily on the tainted chitin of its mother’s armoured fingers. Hive could reform most parts of their bodies with the darkness of hive magic so this was no true damage to the queen as the thrall ate through one of her fingers as she caressed the young thrall proudly. She could hear the darkness in her young but also smell and taste the light that fought inside it too, a perfect balance of the powers that be. For now, this thrall was too young to give a worm, it would eat any worm it would be given craving their tainted nature so for now the queen would feed it herself until it had taken its fill from her. Then she would let the worms eat the jelly from her skin so the chitin could become the familiar hard protective force it would need to be. Thrall if nurtured correctly could grow quickly but this one would need to grow slowly as not to upset the delicate balance of dark and light that it was.

Time did not really exist in the depths of the hive however as the thrall grew into its acolyte form, it’s eyes finally appeared as the chitin on its face cracked. It was only then that the young child was allowed to approach the worms that embodied in hive form, a guardian’s ghost. These worms unlike the normal green tainted worms glowed smoky white and green with the occasional burst of burning light under their skin. The acolyte until now had not been allowed to leave the queens sight and on following the queen to the worm’s hutch, she motioned to the collection of writhing slug like worms nestled into the filthy black coral they lived in.

“You may pick one my child” the queen cooed “I do not know which one you should choose, but listen to them, they may offer wisdom”.

The acolyte looked a little unsure around the room, just being in this room, she felt hungry as she could sense the light and dark in the queens treasured hoard, it pulled at her curiosity and being. At her queen’s request, she moved toward them uncertainly, not certain what to expect as she did. It was mildly surprising as many of the worms sensed her and immediately dig into the filth to hide from her and the acolyte wondered if she should pull one out or not.

She chose not to as she moved carefully through the nesting, taking care not to crush any of the carefully cultivated worms. She paused however as she walked past one worm that did not hide from her as she approached. At first despite trying to listen, she heard nothing, no whispers met her however her curiosity won and she reached out to put her hand on the worms back and it was like a jolt of electricity ran through her form, smoky light surrounded her briefly before dissipating and she could suddenly understand. She heard the whispers of the worm, craving her light and offering power in return for a bond that would last beyond death.

As she picked up the worm gently, she agreed to the silent terms and she cradled the tainted worm on her arms, allowing it to middle on the chitin on her chest and she returned carefully to her queen. “this one speaks to me” she explained.

The queen nodded and leaned down to meet the young acolytes gaze “look after your worm, you both will become powerful together, revel in your strength and you will lead the others who follow your path, the children of the leviathan, go now, you are on your own” she brought a hand to the acolytes cheek with pride, a strange gesture for the hive who were thought of as heartless before she straightened up and left the acolyte where she stood, flying away to return to her brood.

This was where the young acolyte was left to survive on her own terms and she looked to the worm on her arms with fear “what do I do now...” she whispered.

“Feed your strength” a whisper replied, working its way through the acolyte’s mind.

The acolyte looked around cluelessly “how?”.

“Rip... tear... kill” the voice urged hungrily and the acolyte felt a strange sensation in her chest, a hollow feeling of hunger, a need, a craving and it was then she understood and tightened her hold on the worm.

The acolyte looked determined as she looked around before resting her gaze on a large chunk of chitin an her leg and she set the worm in one arm to reach down to pull and tear off a chunk of her hard shell with a pained grunt before standing and bringing the piece to her lips to lick the slimy ooze that was her blood from one side. She then settled by the wall and sharpened the chunk to a point before picking up her worm and moving to leave to begin her journey.

It was hard to start with. She did not have the rough upbringing like a normal thrall, she never had to fight for her existence and now her light made her a target to her dark brethren. She quickly learnt that the hardest part was to keep her work safe, it was inconvenient to carry the worm in her hands despite the bond she had with it that grew deeper by the day. She decided to create a protective shell torn from her own body to carry the worm safely on her back as she moved the the depths, killing everything she came across. Other thrall were easy, even acolytes, the young one could eventually over power as she begun to understand her abilities but she could not beat everything and she finally died, despite her best effort, crumbling under the sword of a knight. Her worm crudely dug into her body to escape the same fate since unlike normal hive, the young acolyte did not return to dust. It was only when it was safe that the worm used its power to return the acolyte to life before eating its way out of her body painfully.

Despite being left gasping with pain, she was glad to see her worm alive and held it close, caressing it almost possessively, whispering words of affection as it spoke to her in return.

The acolyte lived this way for what felt like forever, using the hive she killed to feed her existence and grow more powerful. She went nameless for a long time before she was approached by a large being dressed in golden metal. She was almost a knight now with insect like cloth that hung off her form almost as if actively rotting around her. She had made her knife into a cleaver in the passage of time, all made from her own body that she regenerated as effortlessly as seeing in the dark.

She had seen many cabal like this one and killed many cabal that looked like this, feasting on their remains with her worm to bolster their strength but this one was different, she felt a deep hunger that she had never felt before and her worm felt it too.

“Take him as your own...” the voice whispered and that was all the young knight needed, letting out a feral growl as she clutched her cleaver tight and approached.

The cabal stepped back looking almost surprised and tried speaking to the knight, but she didn’t understand and kept looming closer. It was then the cabal tried another approach and a hammer appeared in his hands before bursting into flame and the knights gaze immediately moved to the light with some awe, she knew that’s why she wanted but it also felt dangerous.

“Wait...” whispered the worm and the knight paused. Moving her gaze back to the cabal expectantly with a low growl. She was surprised when he offered the burning hammer and the knight was unsure to start with before the hunger overcame her, and she reached out to the light and clutched the burning hammers head. Her chitin immediately caught fire but she ignored the pain as her hand glowed with smoky purple light and the golden solar flame became corrupted as she absorbed the light within herself with a sigh and staggered as she was overwhelmed with a new feeling, she had never had this much light before and she took heavy breaths before grinning and looking to the cabal once more.

“Who are you...” she asked in her deep archaic language that sounded more like a collection of different sounds.

The cabal again tried to speak before looking frustrated as again they didn’t understand each other and he looked thoughtful before making a waving motion hoping that would work. The knight did not understand for a moment until her voice whispered to follow so she did.

The knight followed the cabal through the depths of her home and up to some where she had never gone before. She had been taught to avoid the light but as they went up, she was almost blinded as they moved into brighter areas that seemed untouched by her kind. She felt unsure but with a gentle push from her worm, she continued to follow despite her unease.

They finally broke into a large area that branches off to many other places, but the cabal led her up to the main building and she’d never seen a building so clean and grand not that she knew what that meant. The cabal then led her through a corridor that at some point seemed to have flooded with crystallised purple liquid and then it became solid. The knight stopped to feel the substance curiously before continuing and they reached Calus’s throne room where she was faced with the biggest being she had ever seen. A large cabal that looked even grander than the one she had followed, a large cloak draped off his shoulders among the gold that glittered over his armour.

The smaller cabal she followed bowed to the being and the knight felt a flicker of fear, recognising that this being appeared to be stronger so she got to her hands and knees in front of the being hoping she would be spared. She heard some talk between the two but didn’t understand anything until the being turned to face her “ah, stand my beautiful creation, you don’t need to bow for anyone” a male voice spoke in perfect krill much to the knights shock.

“You understand?” She replied, standing up as directed “who are you... you are not hive nor krill...”.

The being sat down heavily on a golden lounge and waved his hand “no, I am cabal, you may call me emperor calus and I am your true leader, your mother is merely the one who bred you for me, come to me, let me see you” he enthused eagerly.

The knight looked uncertain, but her worm pushed her to follow his words, so she picked up her cleaver and started walking to calus. Evidently her guide didn’t understand and tried to stop her though, so she turned and swept her cleaver through his arm with a low growl, cutting clean through much to the being’s shock. This only earned a joyful laugh from the large being and the night continued to walk up to meet the beings request.

Standing beside the being, she barely stood to his knee but as he sat down it wasn’t so hard to meet his gaze, she inspected the knight with pride and laughed “yes, your perfect, now tell me dark one, what’s your name?” He asked.

“Name? I have none” she replied, “do not need one, I only need my worm”.

Calus chuckled “of course you need a name, anyone under my power needs a name worthy of gods” he nodded “your queen told me of a name, I will give you it, you are Nernoox, the emperors sword, my first hive creation, and your worm, tell me of it” he urged with interest.

The knight looked uncertain but reached back to pull a hard shell off her back “come out my shadow” she cooed, teasing the worm with her fingertips so it wriggled out of its hard chitin casing. Once it was free and, in her arms, she allowed the worm to nibble on her fingertips before looking up to calus “this is my worm, my shadow... “

“I’ve heard they speak, is it true?” He asked with confused interest, his eyes almost lighting up as he saw the gross sight.

The night now named Nernoox nodded “she speaks whispers... only if she wishes it do you hear and see” she explained.

“Why does it nibble on your fingers?” He leaned down to look “does it hurt?”.

“My worm feeds from me, eats my chitin for the power it needs to continue... pain is nothing, gives me strength” Nernoox assured before looking to the worm fondly.

Calus chuckled “hive are such fascinating creatures... does it have a name?”. As a shake of her head, calus continued “then she shall be Molka, the emperors dark” she declared “and you will be dressed and become one of my favoured soldiers, you will be taught ulurant and you will never want for anything again, all I ask is that you keep becoming stronger”.

Nernoox thought it over before looking to the worm “do you trust this calus?” She cooed.

It was a moment of heavy thoughtful silence before the worm replied “yes”

The knight looked to the being in front of her and nodded “so be it... but anyone who tries to attack me or my worm, I will kill”.

Calus looked to the smaller cabal that watched the encounter, interestingly enough, their wound had healed completely and after a moment of chatter, he nodded and replied in a language that was likely ulurant and Calus looked to the knight motioning to the cabal “my trusted word, Tavak will be responsible for seeing to your care, you may kill him if necessary but he will not cause you harm, allow him to help you”.

Nernoox gave the cabal called Tavak a long look before nodding, and she started to return to him “as you wish emperor calus”.

Tavak gave the knight a nod before leading her out and to a new part of the grand building they were in, it was a dizzying mess of gold, metal, and mortar. However, they entered an armoury and Tavak turned to the knight looking thoughtful “I am Tavak” he spoke slowly, motioning to his chest before motioning to the knight.

Nernoox took a moment but she understood the body language and the gist of his words, recognising the name that calus had called him “emperor Calus named me Nernoox, the emperor’s sword...”.

While Tavak missed a word or two, he nodded “Nernoox, good, Tavak help Nernoox” he moved his hand over to the rotting cloth around the knights body and motioned to the golden cloth on his own “give new” he tried to explain.

The knight seemed unsure at how close he got, but trying to read his body language, she assumed he wanted to give her new clothes or something and she looked to her shoulder to speak to the worm sheltered on her back “I think it wants me to wear something different...”

The newly named Molka thought about it before replying with whispers “do not let him touch me, but perhaps if he truly wishes to change you, we can take advantage of this... let’s see what happens...”. At that Nernoox looked back to Tavak and nodded.

The cabal seemed a bit unsettled, perhaps because the knight spoke to herself, but he nodded and led her to a room filled with clothes in various colours of Luxury next to armour and metal. The cabal then motioned for her to stand in the middle of the room on a platform, the knight reluctantly allowed it and he carefully cut the rotting cloth from her body.

Nernoox had no problems with being seen, each piece of cloth had been taken from one of her victims as a mark or trophy but she was ok with losing it, she however let out a low growl as he approached her morbid backpack and the shifted it into her hands protectively so he could continue. When she was bare, her body was thin, not nearly as thickly armoured as a normal hive knight however her skin was still cracked and hard, growing thicker in some places rather than others. Without the cloth covering her head, there was a hard shell casing that surrounded her head almost, wrapping around it almost gracefully before almost in a crown like way reaching up and out in spikes however she could remove this protection revealing hard skin and more rounded humanoid head. There were some gross tendrils of hair that had never seen the light of day and it showed.

Tavak seemed to circle the knight thoughtfully before stopping in front of her “what colour is your power?” He asked, bringing out his hammer once more to do his best to explain as his hammer burst into golden flame.

Nernoox growled uncertainly, not understanding “what does he say?” She asked, looking to Molka in her arms.

The worm seemed to wiggle in response “perhaps I can fix this...” she replied quietly before the cabal in front of her suddenly paused as Molka a whisper became louder. Nernoox could hear her trying to reach out and control the cabal in front of her and after a moment of uncertain distress, Tavak seemed to enter a trance like state “what do you want?” The worm whispered ominously.

Tavak in his state seemed to think before replying in basic broken krill, using the worms mind to translate “source of power....” he murmured “colour...”. It was then that a golden glowing orb appeared looking distressed and tried prompting a response from the entranced cabal.

Nernoox nodded with understanding and held up a hand as it became engulfed with tainted purple light. It had a smoky after affect that very obviously disturbed the glowing orb. “Molka gifts me with power, why?” she explained.

Tavak didn’t respond to the show or the orb beside him but after a moment nodded “give protection... metal and cloth to wear to show loyalty to calus...”.

Nernoox stared at him for a moment before nodding “so be it... but do not approach my worm...” she replied darkly.

At the Tavak trance snapped and he stepped back with a gasp and shook his head cursing in his language before speaking to the orb, his gaze then returned to the two looking unsettled, particularly at the bundle in her arms “I shall have to inform emperor calus...” he muttered to himself. He then shook himself off to walk to a desk in the corner of the room and settle there, starting to do something.

Nernoox allowed him to do as he wanted, returning her focus to the worm in her arms and she settled on the floor with crossed legs to coo longingly to the worm inside the the shell, offering her fingers for it to nibble on. Once she had pulled the worm outside her protection, she set the worm at her side and Molka wiggles to settle beside her, the worm was growing to large for her current shell so Nernoox cracked it on one side before looking over her body to find a piece of crusty skin that would fit what was needed, she chose a large strip from her leg and with a pained grunt, she tore it from her body carefully to place it where she wanted it.

This seemed to grab the attention of Tavak and his orb, both seeming deeply disturbed by the sight but they didn’t interrupt as Nernoox used the thick murky black that leaked from her new wound to caress the cracks. It acted almost like glue as it thickened around the shell and once she was satisfied, she retrieved the rotting cloth to wrap the shell, adding more glue to seemingly ensure that everything stayed in place. It ended up the same bumpy and unattractive looking backpack that blended into the colour of her body. It almost looked like she was carrying a hive infected stone on her back and she set it aside to set properly before picking up her worm and holding it in her arm and caressing it as she whispered dark praise and affection.

Time meant nothing to Nernoox, but it was about half an hour before Tavak approached the knight, offering a piece of paper “make this, give to you” he explained slowly.

Nernoox took the paper seriously and eyed a perfect representation of herself drawn in simple looking armour and cloth, it was similar to the cabals own but different, more representative of her own appearance originally but cleaner. She assumed that’s what he wanted to make for her, so she gave him a nod and returned the paper leaving dirty marks on it.

Tavak seemed pleased at that before motioning to stand. After returning the worm to her new and improved shell, she stood leaving the worm at her feet so the cabal could work. Tavak started with pinning cloth in places around her, making a skirt like item first followed by a piece that covered her chest loosely. He then seemed to use his hands to mild metal in his hands to the shapes he wanted before attaching the cloth to it. It took a few hours as Tavak worked on various pieces, trying them on and fixing them before finally settling into a completed outfit that offered more protection in a way that showed that she was one of calus’s favourites. The last piece was a loose cloak that hung off her shoulders before he gave her prices of decorative gold to put on her helmet and hands.

It was odd but not entirely uncomfortable, feeling like just another added layer of chitin, she still had access to her arms and legs despite some armoured clothes that covered her. In a guardian sense, she looked more like a warlock but Tavak seemed pleased. The cloth seemed to trail behind the knight a little to add some grace almost. Nernoox retrieved Molka once he was done and strapped her once more to her back, hiding her under her new cloak before retrieving her cleaver.

Tavak then led her into yet another area that seemed to be a barracks of sort and shows her to an empty room with a bed and bedside table “this place is yours” he motioned to the room before motioning to herself “you can do with it what you like. You may leave at your will”.

Nernoox looked distrustful for a moment until Molka whispered to her “he says this place is yours, you may leave when you wish and do as you like”. After a moment, Nernoox nodded and Tavak left her to her devices.

Such cleanliness felt alien to the knight and the comfort provided didn’t seem to interest her either, but she set her cleaver by the door before beginning her work. It took a good weak or so as she sowed the seeds of filth in her room and soon black cancerous coral started blooming and spreading dust, gunk and all manners of thing through the room. The worm helped as before long, it tumbled into the filth from protection and comfort while not held close to the knights back.


End file.
